The House has voted to repeal the Affordable Care
Act 239-186, but house repugicans didn’t just vote to repeal Obamacare.
By voting for repeal, they also voted to take away access to health
care from 19 million Americans.
No Democrats voted for repeal, and three repugicans voted against repealing the Affordable Care Act
The repugican argument was the same one that has
ignored the reality of the law’s success for years. Kevin McCarthy called the ACA a disaster while claiming that “The
People” don’t want Obamacare. Despite the fact that the ACA has lowered
costs, McCarthy claimed that costs have gone up. He brought out the
tired old argument that taking away access to health care promoted
freedom. He also claimed that Obamacare was government run health care.
Nothing in McCarthy’s remarks was true.
Before the vote, House Ways and Means Committee
Democrats released a statement that revealed the truth, “We’ve had more
than four years of the repugicans telling us they have a better
solution. To date, the ACA has succeeded in helping millions of working
families and retirees: 19 million Americans who would otherwise be
uninsured are now covered; 9 billion in premium dollars saved; $15
billion in savings on drugs for seniors. Four years and counting of
empty repugican promises.”
Representative Sander Levin called out the lie that health
care costs are rising because of the ACA. He said, “It’s a lie. It’s a
fib.” He said the problem that repugicans have with the law is that it
is working.
There was nothing new in the repugican argument. It was an endless stream of half-truths and falsehoods.
Beyond taking away access to health care for 19 million Americans, house repugicans also voted to throw 3 million children off of their parents’ health insurance.
They also voted today to deny 129 million Americans with pre-existing
conditions access to affordable health care. The house repugicans voted to raise prescription drug costs on 8.2 million seniors. The repugicans voted to raise Medicare premiums on seniors.
The media and some on the left often get caught up
in talking about the volume of house repugican attempts to kill the
ACA. What often gets overlooked is what repealing the ACA will do. The repugican efforts do not contain a plan to replace the ACA. The repugican efforts are centered around taking away access to and the
benefits of affordable health care.
Behind the politics is the reality that house repugicans passed a bill that would harm
hundreds of millions of Americans.
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